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April 25, 2025
 

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BOJ

"The main message we have on monetary policy is that in times of heightened uncertainty, flexibility and data dependence become paramount,” said Nada Choueiri, the International Monetary Fund’s Japan mission chief, on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 24, 2025
IMF urges BOJ flexibility on rates as tariffs dent outlook
Along with downgraded global growth projections, the IMF's forecast for Japan’s expansion in 2025 was trimmed by 0.5 percentage points to 0.6%.
Amid trade war uncertainty, central bankers, including Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda, are leaning toward cautious policies, with some signaling potential rate cuts while awaiting the fallout from U.S. tariffs.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 22, 2025
Rate cuts anyone? Anyone? Ferris Bueller’s tariff lesson
The collective sense of "we don't know” will give way to either hiking or easing. In Asia, the bias appears to favor the latter.
As the global trade war intensifies, the debt, the main investment for Japan’s life insurers, has seen wild swings along with its U.S. counterparts.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 18, 2025
Major Japan life insurer to pile into domestic superlong bonds
Investment decisions by Japan’s life insurers can move global markets, and Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance will be the first among its major peers to report such plans.
Unsold bonds are also being covertly peddled at discounted prices, according to several market participants, including investors.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 18, 2025
Japanese municipal bond deals fail to sell as rate swings surge
This month’s heightened market volatility have also led to delays and cancellations of several Japanese corporate bond offerings.
Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 3.2% from a year ago in March, accelerating from a 3% increase in the previous month, according to the internal affairs ministry.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 18, 2025
Japan’s inflation quickens as rice prices gain the most in over 50 years
The price of the nation’s staple grain rose 92.1% in March from a year earlier, the fastest pace in data going back to 1971.
RBC BlueBay Asset Management has shifted to an overweight position in 30-year bonds, as it believes the Bank of Japan may not be in a hurry to raise rates.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 18, 2025
BlueBay piles into Japanese bonds, ditching bets on deeper fall
The firm has shifted to an overweight position in 30-year bonds over the past week as the U.S. trade war darkens the economic outlook.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 16, 2025
Trump’s tariffs may spur policy response from BOJ, Sankei reports
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda's policy comments reinforce speculation that authorities aren’t likely to consider a near-term rate hike.
The Bank of Japan will likely postpone raising interest rates due to uncertainties stemming from U.S. tariff measures that could deal a blow to Japan’s economy, a former executive director said.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 15, 2025
BOJ will likely put rate hike aside for now, ex-official says
"They will be in a wait-and-see mode for a while,” said Kenzo Yamamoto, a former executive at the Bank of Japan.
The yen rose 2.3% against the dollar last week and hit its strongest level since September on Friday.
BUSINESS
Apr 14, 2025
Hedge funds and asset managers boost bullish yen bets amid tariffs
The yen has been one of the best performers against the dollar this month as investors anticipate that the trade war may hurt global economic growth.
Commuters walk past a fruit store at a shopping arcade in Kyoto earlier this year.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 12, 2025
Survey forecasts 12% rise in inflation in Japan over coming year
Of those surveyed, 86.7% said that prices are likely to be higher in a year's time, up from 85.7%.
The Bank of Japan's headquarters in Tokyo
BUSINESS
Apr 11, 2025
Price expectations rise in Japan as tariffs cloud BOJ rate path
Households expect average annual inflation of 9.6% over the next five years, the highest since June 2006.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda at a news conference in January. He has been in the top position for two years.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 11, 2025
After two years in top job, BOJ's Ueda faces his biggest challenge yet 
Communication will be more crucial from now on, as the economic outlook will be more uncertain than ever because of the U.S. tariffs.
Producer prices of farm goods surged 19.7% in fiscal 2024 from the previous year, reflecting higher prices of rice sold to wholesalers.
BUSINESS
Apr 10, 2025
Japan producer prices rise 3.3% in fiscal 2024
According to a preliminary report by the Bank of Japan, the producer price index in the year through March hit a record high for the third straight year.
Kazuyuki Masu, former executive vice president of Mitsubishi Corp., has been nominated as a new policy board member of the Bank of Japan.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 10, 2025
Ishiba picks ex-Mitsubishi executive Masu for BOJ board
Masu would replace Toyoaki Nakamura, a former Hitachi executive, whose five-year term ends on June 30.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda said Wednesday the central bank's stance is to conduct policy appropriately by carefully assessing the remaining uncertainties surrounding tariffs.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 9, 2025
BOJ's Ueda conveys wait-and-see stance on U.S. tariffs
He suggests the central bank will see how the tariff measures evolve before assessing the potential impact, and any required response.
It’s unclear how much weight Yuichiro Tamaki’s Democratic Party of the People will carry on the path of monetary policy.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 8, 2025
DPP leader floats BOJ rate cut if tariffs throttle economy
Tamaki’s remarks come as the market view regarding the Bank of Japan’s rate trajectory has shifted sharply.
In a reflection of persistent price pressure, real wages declined for a second straight month in February, falling 1.2% from a year earlier.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 7, 2025
Japan’s nominal wages rise in bright spot as outlook darkens
Nominal cash earnings for workers climbed 3.1% in February from a year earlier, with the pace accelerating from a revised 1.8% in January, the labor ministry said Monday.
Household outlays declined 0.5% in February from a year earlier, led by falling outlays on clothes and footwear, housing and food.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 4, 2025
Japan’s household spending drops for first time in three months
The drop, ahead of sweeping tariffs announced by the U.S., was led by falling outlays on clothes and footwear, housing and food.
Seiji Adachi, a former member of the Bank of Japan's Policy Board, says there is a chance of a May rate hike.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 3, 2025
Ex-board member who just left BOJ sees chance of May rate hike
Seiji Adachi, whose five-year term ended last week, said he would probably vote for a rate hike in the central bank's May meeting if one was proposed.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda told parliament on Wednesday that new U.S. tariffs could have a large impact on trade activities among nations, depending on their size and the area they cover.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 2, 2025
U.S. tariffs could have big impact on global trade, BOJ chief says
Gov. Kazuo Ueda also underlined the potential of such tariffs affecting households and business sentiment, which would go on to influence overall spending.
Japan must correct Trump’s false data for trade talks, says Kono
Former Foreign Minister Taro Kono
Japan wants to 'separate' tariff and security issues. That may be tough.
Japan’s chief tariff negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, poses with a "Make America Great Again" cap at the White House in Washington on April 16.
Social media helps fuel growing 'sex tourism' in Japan
People walk down a street in the red-light entertainment area of Kabukicho in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo on March 31.
Japan set to fine cyclists on the spot for rule violations from 2026
Under new rules, those who use smartphones while riding a bicycle would be subject to the maximum fine of ¥12,000.
Naked man’s rampage in Saitama linked to one fatality and 10 injured
Police believe Daisuke Nishimura may have been involved in roughly 20 incidents in the 90 minutes leading up to his arrest, including a fatal hit-and-run and multiple assaults.
Built in a flash, Osaka Expo pavilions wrestle with sustainability
Kengo Kuma & Associates oversaw the construction of the Malaysia pavilion, which is encased in interwoven rows of bamboo that appear to ripple.
Japan weighs using U.S. rice imports as tariff negotiation tool with Trump
A restaurant owner pours California-grown Calrose rice into a rice cooker at his restaurant in Tokyo
Is Japan’s parliament ready to welcome more youth to its ranks?
Lower House lawmaker Kai Odake in his Tokyo office on Wednesday
Crow meat, goat tartare: Mauvaise Herbe raises its game
Crow meat, shaped into a ball and attached to a foot of the bird, is one of the peculiar offerings of game at Mauvaise Herbe.
Cases of epidural use in labor rise in Japan alongside concerns
Of the 721,000 childbirths reported in 2024 in Japan, 13.8% involved the use of an epidural, according to the Japan Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

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